


Let It Snow

by joufancyhuh



Series: Starkhaven's Finest [14]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Kid/Family Fluff, NonInquisitor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 20:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17230307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joufancyhuh/pseuds/joufancyhuh
Summary: Anthony experiences snow for the first time. His parents only wish it wasn't in the middle of the night.





	Let It Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Inuy21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inuy21/gifts).



> I wrote this in a chat with Inu because that's honestly how I wrote most of our stuff. I hate that I keep jumping around but here we are. Also look at all this foreshadowing for the trouble ahead. >:D 
> 
> I also, if anyone cares, divided up the series so it's now based on character and not all in one giant pile.

Evelyn woke to small hands smacking her face and smooshing her cheeks together, a small, excited voice calling out, "Mama, wake up! Mama, Mama, Mama, you need to wake up!"  
  
Evelyn peeked one eye open to glare at the overly excited child bouncing near the head of the bed. The sky was pitch black, with only the moon’s glow trickling light into the room. That meant early, and not even a peek of the dawn meant too fucking early to deal with Anthony’s boundless energy. Rylen laid next to her, rubbing at his eyes. "Anthony, my love," she yawned, grabbing onto one of her son’s ankles to drag him onto the mattress. "It's not morning yet. Sleep." She yanked the blanket over his head, but he quickly shoved it back down with a burst of giggles.  
  
"No, Mama! Come see! Come look!"  
  
She groaned as Anthony scrambled back up to his feet, face pressed to the window above the bed. His breath quickly fogged the panel of glass he gazed out of. "Can't Bobo look?"  
  
"Both of you!" He pressed his hands to the pane, leaving little imprints in the haze.

She shoved at Rylen who made no effort to calm Anthony, only smirking at her while she fought to stay alert.  Sticking her tongue out at him, she pulled the cover back over her head in a poor attempt to block out her surroundings. "Mama's tired, Ant."  
  
"No, Mama!" Anthony wrestled the blanket out of her grasp to wrench it down beneath her chin. "Bad Mama. Come see."  
  
With reluctance and loud grumbling, she pushed herself off the bed and onto her knees to see what had her son so animated. Rylen followed suit, using her as a ladder; his hands anchoring to her waist, leaning his full weight into her back while his chin dug into her shoulder.  
  
"Look!" Anthony pointed to the glistening white that blanketed Skyhold below their window, giving the sleeping keep an ethereal glow in the moonlight. "What is it, Mama? Is it magic?"  
  
"Damn cold is what it is," Rylen muttered, his arms circling Evelyn and pulling her further into him. "I wonder if this will change my orders."  
  
Evelyn hoped so. There was no hurry to see Rylen off to shut down their home in Griffon Wing Keep. Who knew how long he'd be gone, his first assignment in this new role? They still hadn't discussed their own situation, where they might head now that the Inquisition disbanded. That talk sidelined with Rylen’s task of shutting down the camps and keeps, redistributing supplies to the appropriate parties. She didn’t envy those trips.

Evelyn patted Anthony's head, realizing this was his first experience seeing it blanket like this. Some of the mages would cast a snowflake here or two, but never anything like this. And the Approach did well to deflect the colder weather. "It's snow."  
  
"Snow," Anthony repeated the word, drawing out each sound. "Mama, what's snow?"  
  
"Like rain, only worse," Rylen said, kissing Evelyn's neck before letting go to slide back under the covers.  
  
She knew he needed his rest, but she tapped his chest with her knee. "You know he's not going to let this go, right? And if I have to go outside, you're coming with me."  
  
Anthony clapped his hands with joy, jumping up and down on the bed as he began his chant of "Outside!"  
  
She bounced off the bed, then tugged the blankets away from Rylen. "Come on, you." When he didn't move, she recruited their son on the venture. "Bobo needs convinced to come with us."  
  
Leaving Ant alone to terrorize his father, she rifled through Anthony's clothes. Did they have anything to withstand the cold? The sudden move to Skyhold left them with little time to prepare, and though they had been there a month, acquiring colder clothes hadn't gone as successfully as she hoped for any of them. Well, they would simply have to make due.  
  
Calling Anthony over, she laid out four long sleeve shirts and a light jacket, plus five pairs of pants to wear. It wasn't perfect but what choice did she have? He lined up like a good little soldier, but started to squirm and fight her as she dressed him with the layers. "Mama, stop, I don't like it."  
  
"If you want to go outside, you’ll have to wear this. No exceptions."  
  
Rylen had moved off the bed behind Anthony, dressing in his own ragtag group of layers. With their son's whining, he came over and knelt down. "I have to wear them too. And so does Mama."  
  
"I don't like it, Bobo."  
  
Rylen laughed, reaching out to ruffled Anthony's hair. "None of us do." He held out Anthony's prized wooden sword. "Want to bring this along?"  
  
Anthony nodded his head as he jerked it away into his own hands. Evelyn used the distraction to clothe herself. She hated the layers too, the stiff movement, how tight everything felt. It made her miss the Keep already, where even the coldest nights felt warmer than here.

She grabbed a cap for each of their heads and a set of gloves, only one pair, which she gave to Anthony. She set each cap on with a kiss to the cheek, then started out. "You have to be quiet, Ant. Other people are still sleeping. Think you can do that?"  
  
He gave her his most serious nod, then reached for her hand as the bundled three made their way out the bedroom door.

They only saw the nightshift guard as they scurried down the hall toward the outer courtyard. Anthony stopped to wave. "Do you want to come play in the snow with us?"  
  
The guard laughed. "No, but you go have fun."  
  
Anthony nodded then pulled Evelyn toward the outside door, Rylen strolling behind them. The wind whipped the heavy door back, the sound of it hitting the wall echoing down the deserted hallways. Evelyn winced to hear it, wondering just how many people that managed to wake up with a single sound.  
  
Anthony stopped short of exit, marveling at the surrounding snowfall that glistened like cold crystals in the night. "Mama, do you see?" He dipped the toe of his boot into the snow, then giggled to see the imprint it made. Then he let go of her to jump forward before spinning around to wave. "Come on, Mama!"  
  
"Inside voice, Ant!" She shivered as a particularly strong breeze hit her in the face, blowing some drift with it. There was no use fighting off the smile that formed from watching her son prance around in the snow, his tiny sword waving too and fro with each hop.  
  
Arms scooped her up from behind, leaving her kicking and yelling as Rylen carried her forward with a grin. He silenced her with a kiss. "You're louder than he is."  
  
"Put me down."  
  
"If you insist." Rylen let go just as suddenly as he picked her up. She fell straight into the embankment, the fluffiness cushioning her fall.  
  
"You jerk!" She screeched, scooping up the snow beside her head and throwing it at Rylen's face. It hit dead-on, and he dropped to his knees, straddling both sides of her waist.  
  
"Don't start a fight you can't win, Trevelyan."  
  
"Bring it on, Clachair."  
  
He scooped up snow, shoving it under her clothes as she shrieked from the cold. Ant bounded over to push Rylen off her. "Stop that, Bobo!"  
  
"Or what?"  
  
Evelyn grabbed the flap of Anthony's hat to bring him down to whisper in his ear. He grinned, then grabbed a bunch of snow, rolling it into a misshapen ball. When he threw it and it hit Rylen's chest, he giggled.  
  
Rylen laughed too, reaching out to grab him by the waist and toss him into the snow. Then he returned to straddling her. "Now, where were we?"  
  
"You know he’s going to retaliate."  
  
"But not before I do this!" He shoved some snow up her shirt while she grabbed fistfuls and shoved them under the collar of his. The yell that followed satisfied her ice cold body beneath her dampening clothes. But then his lips were on hers, hot and fiery, blazing against the frigidness around them.  
  
A thud sounded as a snowball hit Rylen in the back of the head. Rylen broke off the kiss, his frustrated sigh coming out as a puff of cloud that lingered against her mouth. He rolled over.  
  
"We play!" Anthony threw another snowball, this one getting Rylen in the face.  
  
Evelyn snorted, earning her a quick glare as Rylen rose to his feet and made a dash for Anthony.  
  
She got up after a few minutes of laying there, looking up into the night sky and listening to the growls and laughter of the two people she loved most. Her fingers and face felt numb already, and she wondered if the kitchens might have any tea or cocoa they could snag on the way back to their bedroom.

While the boys fought each other, Evelyn decided to make a snow family. The large one, she used sticks to make the face markings and brush to make hair, though it didn’t turn out nearly as curly as Rylen’s. The medium one, she gave it her hat, though her ears complained of the biting temperatures. And the smallest one, she gave him the sword that Ant left in the embankment.  
  
They didn't last long, only a moment for her to stand back and admire her handiwork. While she did, she failed to notice how it went quiet around her, only the roar of the charge as Anthony threw himself at the smallest one, knocking it down and grabbing his sword to slice at the other two. She pouted as she watched her creations crumble back into the snow.  
  
"It looked nice while it lasted," Rylen chided behind her, his hand sliding under her clothes and across her stomach, leaving her gasping at how nippy it felt.  
  
"Is it time to go in?" She asked, watching Anthony tear through her snow family.  
  
"Aye, I don't have any feeling left in my hands or face."  
  
"Then I guess you won't feel this then." Evelyn turned to deliver a kiss as passionate as the one he gave her, her own hands creeping under his shirt to settle on the small of his back. He shivered as she made contact. "Did you feel that, or is your face too numb?"  
  
"I think I need another to be sure."  
  
She laughed as she complied, his hot breath warming her own cheeks.

Getting Anthony inside was going to be a struggle, the little boy showing no signs of stopping in his fun. But when Evelyn suggested some hot cocoa with cinnamon, he clapped his hands and left behind the snow to head for the doors with them.  
  
Rylen broke apart from them as they started toward the bedroom. "I'll grab the drinks. You two go get warm."  
  
Evelyn nodded, leading Ant back down from where they came. When they passed the guard, Anthony yanked on her hand to stop.  
  
"Did you have fun?" The guard asked, a large smile on her face.  
  
"I like snow," Anthony yawned. "Bobo went to get us drinks."  
  
"Ah, that's good. You'll need something to warm you up from the inside."  
  
Anthony only nodded, then raised his arms up to let Evelyn know he finished walking. By the time they reached the room, he was half asleep, his head resting on her shoulder. She sat him on the couch, working to get each damp layer off him while also trying to get the fire roaring.  
  
He didn't fight when she brought his pajamas over, only curled up in the corner of the couch when she finished changing him. She hung up his clothes on the backs of the chairs then stripped herself down to put on some warm pjs, her skin like icicles. She sat down on the couch when she finished, and Anthony moved instinctively into her lap, head returning to her shoulder as she stroked his damp curls. She jerked down the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped them in it, her vision focusing on the crackling fire in front of them.

Rylen stumbled in not too long after with three steaming cups. When he saw Anthony on her chest, he sighed. "He's asleep, isn't he?"  
  
"We can warm up his drink for him tomorrow." Evelyn patted the spot beside her. "Come sit."  
  
"I will. Got to get these damn clothes off first. I'm freezing." He handed her one cup, bending down to receive a soft kiss of appreciation before taking off to the other side of the room to redress.  
  
When he came back, settling in at her side with his own cup, she looped the blanket around to include him too, then slanted into his chest. "This was nice," she murmured, one hand still stroking Anthony's hair.  
  
"I wish you could come with me." Rylen's hand played in her own hair, fingers running through it while she leaned into the touch.  
  
Her eyes flickered down to Anthony's slack face. "Me too, but Ant ..." Her voice trailed off, her memory recalling the fit he threw whenever someone left the Keep. He wasn’t the best at traveling, but what four-year-old was? Staying behind, the two of them, it was for the best. Seeing everyone he was fond of leave in flocks might cause some serious issues down the line. This, the illusion of stability here in Skyhold, it was for the best, a temporary fix until they found a more permanent solution for the family of three.  
  
"I know." He kissed the side of her head as his hand fell away to her shoulder.

Together, they watched the fire stir until sleep claimed them, beverage warm in their stomachs.

**Author's Note:**

> Anthony is my favorite OC, don't tell the others.


End file.
